Sister
by Aerial312
Summary: Alice tries to please her new sister.


I studied my reflection in the full length mirror. My skirt hung limply just past my knee, dark blue with little character. I wore white ankle socks with saddle shoes, and a simple cream colored blouse. I scowled. The top was nearly the same color as my pale skin. On Rosalie's advice, I'd picked a conservative outfit for my first day of school. It wasn't really my style.

I turned to the side to look at my profile. Flat and uninteresting. My tiny frame had no curves to speak of. The only feature of interest was my wild hair. I had tried to pin it back into a more normal style, but it refused to be tamed. I ran my hands along the black stands, trying to will it to stay down.

"It looks fine like that."

I turned to the other side, to look at Jasper, who sat on the edge of the bed watching me.

I grimaced. "It won't lay flat."

"It never lays flat," he smiled. "And it always looks pretty."

I sighed. I didn't feel very pretty.

"You're unhappy," Jasper noted, suddenly standing right behind me. He slid his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "Why?"

I gestured toward my outfit, flopping back against his chest.

"Alice, you look beautiful, as always, despite Rosalie's best efforts to make you look plain."

I looked in the mirror. Plain was the best word to describe my outfit.

"You don't look plain," he assured me, rubbing my hip with his thumb.

"Do you think she was doing this on purpose? Rosalie was so kind for a change yesterday when she was helping me pick out things for school."

"Then it was definitely on purpose."

"Jasper…" I frowned. I had thought that without shopping trip my relationship with Rosalie was really turning a corner. She had felt like what I imagined a real sister to be like for the first time. It hadn't occurred to me that she was being false.

"Rosalie doesn't want to risk someone being prettier than her."

"I don't imagine how anyone could be."

"Alice—"

"She's gorgeous—"

"You're gorgeous."

"To you."

He spun me around and pulled me tight to his chest, rocking us back and forth with his nose buried in my hair. We swayed back and forth for a moment.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his chest.

"What for?" he whispered.

"For caring if anyone else thinks I look pretty."

He laughed wryly. "Of course you want to look nice for your first day of school." He scooped under my knees to cradle me in his arms. "If you don't like what Rosalie picked, why don't you wear something else?"

_I kissed Jasper and skipped down the stairs, stopping by the door where everyone else was waiting to go to school. Rosalie scowled as I approached, my full pink skirt swishing around my legs. Her own dress was a lovely pale green, nothing at all like the dark, scratchy blue she'd selected for me._

_"What happened to the outfit I picked out for you yesterday?"_

_"Jasper didn't like it" I shrugged, turning to smile up to at him on the stairs. _

_"Jasper's not going to school," she muttered to Emmett as we walked through the doorway._

"She's not going to be happy," I sighed into Jasper's shoulder.

"But you will be."

I bit my lip. "I don't want her to hate me." Maybe I should just wear what Rosalie wanted me to.

_I kissed Jasper and skipped down the stairs, stopping by the door where everyone else was waiting to go to school. _

_"You look great," Rosalie gushed, a little too effusive as she took in the ensemble she had selected for me. _

_From the corner of his eye, I saw Edward shake his head derisively at her._

"She won't hate you," Jasper assured me, pressing his lips to my neck. "She'll get over it."

_I sat in the backseat of the car beside Rosalie, my legs crossed beneath the soft pink skirt. _

_"There will be lots of girls wearing safe, dark choices," Rosalie explained. "Not everyone can pull off a bright color, you know."_

_I smiled politely._

Jasper released me and my feet landed on the floor at his side. He slid his hand into mine, opening the door to our small closet. "You should wear something that makes you happy. Forget about Rosalie."

I nodded, staring at my meager collection of dresses, which were all in bright colors.

"I think you look fine, but you can tell her that I didn't like that outfit if it makes it easier for you."

"I plan to," I admitted.

He chuckled, pulsing my hand with his fingers.

"Which do you like best?" I asked, looking up at him. "And don't tell me you like them all."

He squeezed my shoulder, and pulled a bright pink dress from the rack. I took it and held it up in front of the drab outfit I was currently wearing. I pulled it away and looked at Rosalie's choice again. I looked at the pink dress again. Before I had a chance to decide, I felt Jasper's hand on the small of my back, and a split second later, the heavy, blue skirt was in a clump around my ankles. I looked up at him with a smirked.

He ran his thumb along the smooth silk of my slip. "You obviously liked the pink one better."

His hand was now flat against the soft fabric on my back, and I leaned into his touch. His hand continued down, tracing the line of my panties through the covering garment.

"We don't have time," I sighed, dropping my head to his firm chest.

"Pity," he murmured, gathering the silk up in his fingers as the hem rose higher and higher.

"I have to be downstairs in fifteen minutes…" I protested feebly, closing my eyes.

I snapped them back open at the sound of fabric ripping. The ugly blouse joined the blue skirt on the floor.

"You didn't like the blouse either."

I giggled, my voice dropping to a moan as his pointer finger traced the skin along the top edge of my slip.

"You seem to have doubts about just how beautiful you are." He kissed along my jaw as he whispered this, carefully placing the pink dress down on the desk as he scooped me up and deposited me on the bed. "I need to show you."

His hands slid down my legs, pulling off the saddle shoes one by one. The white ankle socks soon followed, and he tickled my arches. I kicked him playfully, and he turned his ministrations to my ear. I purred into his neck, momentarily forgetting about my time constraints. A knock at the door snapped me out of my reverie.

"Alice?" Edward called out. "Carlisle wants to leave a few minutes early because of the snow on the ground."

"Uh, okay," I sighed, pushing myself up to sit. "Thanks! I'll be down in a minute."

I heard Edward continue down the stairs and I looked over at my love, who now stood beside the bed, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"This will have to wait," I sighed, standing up.

He held the pink dress open for me, and I stepped into it. I spun, letting him zip me up. He kissed the top of my head and I skipped over to the mirror, admiring my new look. It wasn't a new dress, but it was my dress. The crisp pink cotton flared out from my waist into a full skirt that landed just below my knees. Jasper held out his hand as I stepped into my usual shoes, a pair of simple Mary Janes.

I spun around for him. "Better?"

"You like it better. And that's all that matters."

He took my hand as we walked out of the room. I kissed Jasper and skipped down the stairs, stopping by the door where everyone else was waiting to go to school. Rosalie scowled as I approached, my full pink skirt swishing around my legs. Her own dress was a lovely pale green, nothing at all like the dark, scratchy blue she'd selected for me.

"What happened to the outfit I picked out for you yesterday?"

"Jasper didn't like it" I shrugged, turning to smile up to at him on the stairs.

"Jasper's not going to school," she muttered to Emmett as we walked through the doorway.

I pretended not to hear. We trudged through the snow to the car. I sat in the backseat of the car beside Rosalie, my legs crossed beneath the soft pink skirt.

"There will be lots of girls wearing safe, dark choices," Rosalie explained. "Not everyone can pull off a bright color, you know."

I smiled politely. "All of my dresses are bright. I didn't want to pretend to be someone I'm not."

She looked at me for a moment before her scowl softened. "It's a pretty dress."

And she seemed to actually mean it.

_Women only call each other sister when they have called each other a lot of other things first._, The Importance of Being Earnest


End file.
